


Dangerous Creatures

by NemesisNyx



Series: Maelstrom [3]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2019-09-02 09:47:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16784536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NemesisNyx/pseuds/NemesisNyx
Summary: One of the alternate realities brought on by Maelstrom.To see how this began you can read Chapter 3 of Maelstrom (but only if you want to).[Special thanks to Varalisse, my editor]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Himerope -a Siren from Greek Mythology.
> 
> Ophion- "serpent", aka Ophioneus; a snake god; ruled the world with Eurynome before the two of them were cast down by Cronus and Rhea.
> 
> Uto - Greek version of Wadjet, an Egyptian cobra goddess, originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep.

Cobra knew stalking was wrong. But, let’s be honest here, he was a villain, a bad guy, doing things in the wrong was sort of his thing, his modus operandi, his raison d’etre.

Plus, Himerope was hot as fuck and her soul calmed him the fuck down. Listening to her, he didn’t feel the insatiable need for world domination. Catching her scent lulled him into a relaxed state, he didn’t feel the need to maim, destroy, kill when he scented her. The combination of her looks, soul song, and scent entranced him.

Enthralled him.

He’d gladly become a thrall for her.

Cubellios was of the same mind. The giant snake loved Himerope too.

The snake was an enabler though; Cubellios would never willingly deny Cobra of anything that made the man happy. Just like Cobra would never deny the snake anything that would make the serpent happy. Cobra and Cubellios had a rough form of communication going on. Cobra could hear Cubellios’ soul, Cubellios could sense Cobra’s feelings.

Cubellios’ enabling was partially the reason Cobra was currently jumping from roof top to roof top as he followed Himerope. He’d been doing it for the past five days. He snuck off three days before the official two-month vacation Brain _gifted_ them.

Every morning he would wait until she walked out of her apartment that sat above a bakery, watched her as she picked up a box of strawberry croissants, as she walked down the streets, her hips swaying, heading towards the offices that housed the local branch of the Rune Knights.

That was irksome, but she wasn’t a Rune Knight, she was a secretary. He watched as she joked with a turquoise-eyed Rune Knight.

Her laugh. Hearing her laugh was worth it to Cobra to be so close to getting caught.

He thanked whatever deity existed every day that no fellow Dragon Slayers worked for the Rune Knights.

#

Cobra felt his lacrima light up.

“Yeah?” He didn’t bother being nice since Racer was the one on the other end.

“Where the fuck are you at, asshole?” Racer looked like he was running. The little shit was always running. It was annoying as fuck.

“What’s it fucking matter to you, dipshit?” Cobra snorted. “We got two months to ourselves as of two days ago.”

“Yeah, I know, fuckwad.” Racer rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. “Midnight wanted to know if you wanted to go to Bosco and wreck shit.”

“Fuck. No.” Cobra stated. “The last time I went anywhere with Glam Rock, I didn’t get glitter out of my hair for two weeks.”

Racer laughed. “You right.”

Cobra watched as the scenery behind Racer flew by.

“I’m busy, so I’m hanging up now.” Cobra grunted.

“What are you busy doing?” Racer pried.

“Fuck off.” Cobra ended the call. “Fucking weirdo.”

He checked his watch. It was almost time for Himerope to get off work.

Today was going to be the day he ‘accidentally’ ran into her. Maybe in the same bakery her apartment was above? Nah, even Cobra thought that was too fucking creepy. He wasn’t trying to show exactly how creeptastic he was just yet. That shit needed to be eased into.

“Where should we bump into her, Cu?” Cobra asked his familiar.

Cubellios flicked her tongue a few times. She hissed.

“Good idea, Cu.” Cobra smirked. “If she goes grocery shopping, we’ll bump into her there.”

Cobra had been patiently waiting to bump into her for the past two days, she never gave him an opportunity though.

#

Lucy clocked out, waving goodbye to Doranbolt she began walking home.

“What should I eat for dinner?” She mused allowed. “I haven’t had steak in a while.”

Lost in thought, she didn’t notice somebody jump off the roof to trail behind her.

“I’ll have steak with bacon wrapped asparagus and a salad.” She decided finally. She ate steak and bacon so rarely.

She entered the grocery store closest to her apartment, grabbing a basket, again she didn’t notice the man with a large purple snake walk in a few seconds behind her, also grabbing a basket.

“Well, who would’ve thought I’d run into you here, Himerope.”

Lucy looked up, a grin stretching across her face as she recognized the raspy voice. “Ophion! And Uto*! How are my favorite snake god and serpent?” She held a hand towards Cubellios; Cubellios extended her head, letting Lucy scratch her chin.

“Uto?” Cobra laughed.

Lucy shrugged, her smile wonky, shrugging as she continued scratching Cubellios’ chin. “It continues the theme.”

Cobra’s smile was mostly teeth, but in a friendly way.

“So, what are you buying?” Lucy looked into Cobra’s basket. “I can’t imagine that this delicatessen would sell food that’s for gorgeous cobra goddesses.”

Cobra barked a laugh. “You’re right, but I came in to try a find a snack.” He eyed Lucy’s curves openly, Lucy didn’t notice, she was too busy asking Cubellios which cut of steak she should buy.

“And have you found one?” Lucy looked back over her shoulder, past Cubellios’ head –the snake had decided resting her chin on Lucy’s shoulder was a good idea.

“I might’ve.” _Oh, fuck me, yes. I found one. It’s you. But I gotta wait._

“Good.” She glanced at his basket. “You haven’t gotten anything in your basket.”

“Well,” _Shit._ “I just arrived and saw you, haven’t made it to the snack aisle yet.”

Lucy nodded, chewing her bottom lip. _How can you have already found a snack if there’s nothing in your basket?_ “Tell you what, you help me pick out the perfect steak, and I’ll help you pick out the perfect snack.”

“Deal.” He didn’t even have to think about it.


	2. Chapter 2

Cobra was a charmer, he had to be what with the massive purple snake he traveled with. And sometimes being forced to work with Racer or Midnight. Or Hoteye. Or Angel. Or, fuck, any of the other Oracion Seis members. –They weren’t known for being friendly as a whole. —But he had not expected Himerope want to get to know him, to ask about his ‘business’, why he traveled for work so much. He inwardly cringed. For some dumbass reason he hated lying to her.

Maybe that was because her soul was perfection and her scent was nectar of the gods? Whatever. She was perfect.

He didn’t even know her real name.

That didn’t matter. He had forever to get to know her real name. And what her magic was. Her soul, surprisingly, didn’t focus too much on her magic, it mostly focused on the present.

#

Lucy was charmed. For the past three weeks she shared some form of meal with Ophion. He told her about his ‘business’ and his reasons for traveling to work. Lucy knew hedging when she heard it, plenty of her father’s business associates’ children hedged. Hell, even Doranbolt and Lahar hedged. Hedging was a part of her life; she was used to it. She wasn’t bothered by it. Everybody hedged. She hedged while at work. She hedged while speaking to Ophion. Hedging was life.

Lucy decided she had a strange relationship with the word ‘hedge’.

Despite all the hedging, Ophion was a hoot to be around, he made her laugh. And Uto, Lucy was in love with that snake. It wasn’t until the second week of ‘bumping’ –Lucy had a fair idea that he might be stalking her a bit—that she found out Uto could fly. This only had Lucy fall in love with the purple serpent even more.

“Do you think, one day,” she bit her lip, scratching Cubellios’s chin, “that Uto would let me ride her one day?”

The trio were sitting on a park bench, Cubellios was curled around the two of them, the serpent’s head resting on the open space between the two humans.

Cobra’s jaw dropped. _She wants to ride Cubellios? Fuck me gently with a chainsaw*. Three weeks in too soon to propose marriage._ He discreetly adjusted his pants, couldn’t have her see him tenting. It wasn’t just that her question implied that she loved Cubellios that was turning him on, it was that as she asked the question her soul did a strange trilling sound that Cobra was beginning to associate with hope and the future. Specifically, Himerope’s own future.

_She sees a future with me? Me?_

Cobra knew that she knew that he was possibly involved in illegal activities. She was acutely familiar with hedging. Cobra decided he a strange relationship with the word ‘hedge.’

_God fuck, that’s so goddamn sexy. She thinks there’s a future with us. She wants a future with us. There’s an us to her._ Cobra found himself purring contentedly at the idea.

“Ophion?”

Her sweet voice brought him back to the now.

“Yeah, Himerope?” Cobra crossed his legs, his pants becoming uncomfortably tight due to his wayward thoughts.

“Do you think Uto would let me ride her like she does you one day?” Lucy furrowed her brow. Maybe she was too forward?

“Uh, let me ask her.” Cobra smirked. “Hey, Cu,” Cubellios turned a languid head to look at Cobra, “you think that you might one day let Himerope here ride you?”

Cubellios turned her head to gaze at Lucy, flicked her tongue a few times, before turning back to Cobra and hissing softly.

“She said ‘fuck, yeah.’” Cobra ran a finger on the back of Lucy’s neck.

Lucy laughed. “Did she really say that?”

“Well,” he rolled his eyes, “she thinks it’d be grand and has no problem with it so basically, yeah, that’s what she said.”

“Uto, you have got to stop letting Cobra speak for you, dear.” Lucy told the snake. “He’s making you sound less intelligent than you actually are. And we both know you’re the brains of the operation.”

“Hey!” Cobra cried in mock indignation. His faux hurt feelings quickly turned to outright belly laughter after Cubellios hissed at him.

“What’s so funny?” Lucy asked.

“She said ‘I know.’” He wiped a tear from his eye.

Lucy giggled. “That’s because she’s smart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Fuck me gently with a chainsaw" -quote from the movie 'Heathers'.


	3. Chapter 3

Cobra was a lucky bastard. Everybody agreed with that. The slave drivers at the Tower of Heaven agreed, Zero agreed, Brain agreed, that stupid fucking talking stick Klodoa agreed. But this, this shit right here. This shit just proved how much of a complete lucky bastard he was.

One and a half months he had gotten to spend with Himerope. Six weeks. Six blissful weeks of him getting to listen to her soul, whiffing her scent, hearing her voice, her laugh. It was like a dream.

But all dreams must come to an end.

And if it didn’t come in the guise of a speedy fuck with feathered eyebrows and aviators.

Fucking Racer.

#

Cobra was sitting on their park bench –yes, **their** park bench –waiting for Himerope to get off work. Cubellios was terrorizing the local wildlife stupid enough to still call the park home after a month of the Poison Dragon Slayer and his venomous snake frequenting it, and he was relaxing in the sun feeling extremely relaxed. Happy. Content. Thinking about how much of a lucky bastard he was.

“Hey fuck-face.” Racer’s irritating voice broke into Cobra’s pleasant thoughts.

“You better not actually be here. You better be a figment of my imagination because my mind has finally decided to snap.” Cobra didn’t bother opening his eyes. He could smell Racer. He could hear Racer’s soul. Racer was real. _God damn it. I hadn’t been imaging the fuck’s soul._

“No can do, cocksucker.” Racer deposited himself next to Cobra on the bench.

Cobra cracked an eye open, Racer, the feathered fuck, was sitting in **her** spot. “What. Do. You. Want?” Whatever patience he had for waiting snapped.

“Brain cut our vacation short a week ago.” Racer’s head darted around as it was wont to do when the man actually took time to sit still. Only, there was no stillness in Racer’s life. Everything was go-go-go, all the time. Annoying dick blossom.

Cobra heard the implied threat, in Racer’s voice, choice of words, soul. Brain was pissed. Cobra would be facing severe punishment for going off reservation, going off script, actually enjoying his life and doing what he wanted to do for once that did not involve maiming or killing or world domination.

Racer was a warning. Racer was always a warning. A quick little messenger pigeon hearkening ‘hurry, fall back in line.”

Next would be Angel. She was the threat. The missile that would blow up in your face. Screaming at you to back the fuck up, mind your p’s and q’s.

Hoteye would be third if the pigeon and the missile didn’t give clear intent or directions. That tall, angled freak was the muscle. He’d drag your ass back burnt to a crisp every time.

And if, and it was a huge if, somehow Racer couldn’t find you, Angel couldn’t persuade you, and Hoteye couldn’t burn you, Midnight would find you and Midnight would….Cobra shuddered. He did not want to think about what Midnight did with his victims.

That’s how it always went. Racer, Angel, Hoteye, Midnight.

Cobra himself never went anywhere, he never fetched anybody. He was the result. He was the executioner. The others were just the bounty hunter, the fuzz, the postal service. But Cobra, Cobra was the hang man.

Most people talked under the mere threat of being handed over to Cobra. But if Cobra was the one that needed to be collected, that needed to be reminded of his job, that needed to be kept in line then that meant that Zero was the hang man. And nobody wanted Zero to play hang man.

“How long have I got?” Cobra sighed, tilting his head back to look at the sky. The perfectly blue with perfect wisps of white cottony clouds sky.

Racer shrugged.

_Damn, hell, shit piss, fuck!_ Cobra looked around for Cubellios. “Give me an hour.” It wasn’t a request. Either Racer would give him an hour or today was going to be the day Cobra followed through with all his threats and killed the other man.

“Sure thing.” Racer stood, sauntered off at the pace of a speeding train.

Cobra watched his fellow guild member, his fellow survivor of the Tower, go. The fact that Racer hadn’t insulted him made Cobra wonder exactly how long Racer had been there. It did not bode well.

Cobra started spewing a green poisonous gas as Cubellios slithered over to him.

“Cu, I got some bad news.”

#

It had been a week since Ophion said goodbye. A week without his warped sense of humor to cheer her up when she was absolutely ready to murder Lahar. A week since she got to feed Uto a live rat from her own hand. Lucy was miserable.

“Hey, Miss Roberts, are you ok?”

Lucy looked up to see a concerned Doranbolt standing in the filing closet’s door.

“I’m fine.” Lucy smiled tremulously.

Doranbolt furrowed his brow. “Forgive me, Miss Roberts, but I don’t believe that.”

Lucy laughed. Doranbolt was an oddly sensitive and perceptive man. Out of everybody she worked with, he was the only one that didn’t believe her.

Her laugh was watery. “A guy I was seeing dumped me a week ago.”

Doranbolt let shock read clear on his face. Who in their right mind would break up with Lucy? She was perfect –oddly possessive yet absentee father aside. Without realizing it, he had made his way into the room to give the crying woman a hug.

“He’s an idiot.” Doranbolt pressed a quick kiss to her hair.

Lucy laughed as she pushed herself out of Doranbolt’s arms. “Thanks, Doranbolt.”

“Any time.” And he meant it. He didn’t like Lucy in that way, but he was beginning to think of her as a friend.


	4. Chapter 4

It’d been three weeks since Ophion and Uto left and Lucy had to admit to herself that while she was sad, she wasn’t heartbroken. It’s hard to be heartbroken over such an ambiguous relationship. Were they friends? Had they been dating? Was he using her to further his criminal activities by hoping he could talk her into revealing Rune Knight secrets? She didn’t know.

What she was, currently, was pissed.

“This fucking lacrima scanner!” If it wasn’t one broken lacrima it was another. She spent the past weekend dealing with the broken conveyor belt lacrima at Maelstrom and now she had deal with the broken scanner lacrima here.

“Miss Lucy, are you alright in here?” Doranbolt said from the door.

“Please, please, please! Tell me that Lahar is working on fixing the scanner.” Lucy turned tear filled eyes to her friend.

Doranbolt blushed. “Uhh,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Let me check.” And he was gone.

Lucy blinked a few times. _He’s always doing that and yet he’s always late to things._ She chuckled and went back to manhandling the scanner.

_He was late when we were having brunch last Saturday too._

The scanner started smoking.

“Oh, fuck you! You piece of shit!” She hissed. “How are you even smoking?”

#

“Lucy,” Doranbolt started, placing his strawberry croissant back on his napkin.

“Yes, Doranbolt?” Lucy spoke around the rim of her coffee cup. She was trying to drink the coffee as fast as possible without burning herself. Lahar had a habit of popping up out of nowhere to admonish the pair when they snuck off for their little snack breaks.

“I’m going to show you a picture then ask you a question but try not to freak out, alright?” Doranbolt studied the younger woman.

“Ok.” Lucy nodded.

This was something her and Doranbolt did during their little chat sessions. He would show her a picture and ask her a question. Most of the time it was a picture of a snack or some newfangled lacrima powered device. She would never forget the entire month he used her to help pick out the perfect television –that was a nightmare. But the Spatial Mage seemed more serious today than usual.

_I hope he’s not going to ask me about possible criminals I see at my job. We both know the rules of Maelstrom and I don’t want to get fired. I’ve met so many interesting people._

Doranbolt took a breath, readying himself for the possible fall out, reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a photograph. “Do you recognize this man?”

Lucy glanced at the picture, then back at Doranbolt’s face. Back at the picture. She snatched the picture from his hand.

_Why in the fuck does Doranbolt have a picture of Ophion and Uto?_ Lucy looked between Doranbolt and the photograph.

“You do recognize him.” Doranbolt sighed. _Shit._

“Yeah, I do.” Lucy frowned down at the picture. _Cobra? Is that Ophion’s real name?_ A part of her couldn’t help but manically laugh at how his name was so similar to the nickname she gave him. _Wow, almost spot on there._

“How do you recognize him?” _Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say._

“He was the guy I was dating. Well seeing? I don’t know what we were doing.” Lucy shrugged, flipped the picture over to read the information on the back. “We spent time together.”

“Ah.” _Well, that’s a relief, she won’t be caught up in the arrest._

_I spent time with this man?_ Lucy’s breaths came in swallower and swallower. _I think I might be having a panic attack. He’s a murderer and I spent time with him. He knocked out that busboy like it was nothing._ She ignored the part of her brain that reminded her he did it for her; that he was only ever kind with her. she ignored all of it. She had been –possibly? Maybe? It was only six weeks –falling for a criminal. And not just any criminal but one of Fiore’s top twenty.

Doranbolt had been trying to give Lucy some privacy to work through her emotions at discovering the truth about Cobra. But his eyes shifted back to hers when he heard her sob.

“Shhh.” He pulled her into a hug. If Lahar caught them, it was fine. Both Lucy and Doranbolt were touchy people, Lahar had caught the pair in various forms of hugging since Lucy started working. “It’s ok, Lucy. You’ll be fine.”

Lucy only cried harder.

“Would it be easier if you could forget him?” Doranbolt asked after letting her cry for thirty minutes. It was way past a quick snack break.

Lucy sniffed. “I don’t know.” And she didn’t. _Would it be easier if I could forget Cobra and Cubellios?_

Doranbolt pulled back, looked in Lucy’s eyes. “Why does it hurt so much?”

Lucy shook her head. She didn’t know.

“I can make it not hurt so much.” Doranbolt promised.

“Ho-how?” Lucy’s sobs were farther and farther apart.

“Trust me.” Mest smiled. He rarely got moments of clarity, flashes of his life before taking the mission for Master Makarov, before becoming Doranbolt to infiltrate the Magic Council. But this was one of them. “Do you trust me, Lucy Heartfilia?”

Lucy nodded. She did trust Doranbolt, although he currently didn’t look like the Doranbolt she knew. “I trust you.”

Mest smiled, leaning in to kiss Lucy’s gently on the forehead before he placed his hands delicately over her temples. He blinked and it was done.

“Doranbolt,” Lucy asked, “why are your hands on my face?”

Doranbolt chuckled. “Oh, just trying to see how big your head is. I bought us matching The Walking Dead headbands.”

Lucy frowned. “But I don’t like zombies.”

“I know. But the headbands look so cool though!” Doranbolt cried.

“Whatever.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “Shit!” She looked at her watch. “We gotta get back to work!”

Doranbolt blanched as he glanced at her watch. “Lahar is going to kill me.”

Before heading back, Lucy stopped by the restroom.

_Strange, I don’t remember crying._ She touched up her makeup. _Why was I crying? Maybe Doranbolt would know._

“Doranbolt?” She asked the man as he fell into step beside her, the pair of them heading back to their respective offices. “Do you know why I might have been crying?”

Doranbolt jolted. Why had she been crying again? “I think it was the result of my showing you a picture of a wanted criminal. You read his rap sheet and started crying.”

“Oh.” Lucy chewed her bottom lip. “May I see the picture again?”

Doranbolt extracted the picture, passed it over. Lucy looked at the picture. Maroon hair, caramel colored skin, black eyes, vibrant purple snake. She narrowed her eyes. Flipping the picture over she began reading the rap sheet. A small gasp escaped her.

“No wonder I cried!” Lucy read the crimes listed. “That’s horrible.” _Those poor people._

#

Cobra opened his eyes. _I knew there was something off about that guy._ He thought as he listened to Doranbolt’s soul. It was as if for a second, the Doranbolt guy was a completely different person. And that second person did something to Himerope.

This was the first time Cobra had been able to get back to Crocus. He wasn’t going to contact Himerope –he wasn’t stupid, contacting her when he was already on such thin ice was a great way to garner Zero’s attention and…Cobra shuddered, fighting bile rising in his throat. No. Hell no. He was not about to have Zero cast a keen eye on Himerope.

But now, Cobra listened to her soul. Now there was no mention of himself or Cubellios in her soul. There was nothing. There was a small patch of disquiet, but her soul was back to being how it was when he first met her at the bar.

It was almost as if she had forgotten him.

Cobra grunted, shared a saddened look with Cubellios. “She’s safer this way anyway, ain’t she Cu?”

Cubellios hissed forlornly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I believe that Mest can sometimes remember himself in short flashes before he forgets again.


	5. Chapter 5

He was probably dying. Betrayed by Zero. This is what eight years of faithful service did to you. Shoot you in the back in favor of another Dragon Slayer.

Cobra didn’t know if he was going to survive; his shoulder hurt more than when he shoved the Poison Dragon Slayer lacrima in his chest, more than a flogging at the Tower of Heaven, more than being cut into without anesthesia that one time he had to get his appendix removed or he’d have died.

He could hear the Rune Knights as well. Those uptight, law abiding dildos were coming closer. Ever closer. He had to send Cubellios away.

“Cubellios.” Cobra wheezed.

Cubellios hissed, her tongue gliding across the Cobra’s cheek.

“Go find Himerope. She’ll take care of you.” Cobra moved his hand to cup his familiar’s, his best friend’s cheek.

Cubellios hissed again, uncertain.

“She might not remember us, but she still thinks you’re a fucking gorgeous, sexy beast.” Cobra’s laugh turned into a cough. He hurt so much. “Go to her.” He closed his eyes. He hurt so, so much. He hoped he was dying. He needed to get Cubellios to safety though.

Cubellios hisses defiantly. She wasn’t going anywhere, and she wasn’t going to let Cobra die.

“Get!” Cobra shoved her head away from, it lacked real heart.

Cubellios reared up before sinking her fangs into Cobra’s injured shoulder. Cobra stuffed his fist in his mouth, silencing his screams as he felt the venom pump into his body.

“I’ll find you again.” Cobra panted.

Cubellios rubbed her face against his for a second.

“Go! Go find Himerope!” Cobra could feel the venom coursing through his blood stream, it would take a while to heal but he’d heal. He hoped he’d heal enough to be able to move before the Rune Knights arrived. “Please, Cu. I can’t bear to see them harm you.” He felt real tears sliding down his cheeks.

Cubellios’ tongue whispered across Cobra’s cheeks, tasting his tears, giving him one last look, the purple snake slithered away.

_Find Himerope. Please, if there is any form of a god that can answer prayers. Please, please, please, please let Cu find Himerope._

With that last thought, Cobra gave into unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

“Hey Lucy!” Kianna greeted the Celestial Mage as Lucy sat at the bar.

“Hey Kianna!” Lucy smiled at the violet barmaid that had joined the guild a few days after the Oracion Seis incident. For some reason, Lucy and Kianna had hit it right off.

“Here’s your smoothie, dear.” Kianna winked at Lucy as she slid a large chocolate strawberry smoothie in front of the blonde.

“How do you always know what I want to order?” Lucy laughed. “You’re psychic aren’t you? You’re better at it than Mira.”

Kianna laughed. “Nah, I can just guess based off your facial expression. And today was a chocolate strawberry smoothie topped with caramel whipped cream and a raspberry.”

“You’re my favorite person, Kianna.” Lucy awkwardly hugged the barmaid across the bar.

Kianna patted Lucy on the head, before extracting herself and walking off to deliver sandwiches to Shadowgear.

#

Cobra sat in his lacrima cell and glared at the Rune Knights. He wasn’t going to tell the losers anything.

“Where is your snake?” the violet eyed Rune Knight demanded.

“Ain’t telling you shit.” Cobra sneered. “She’s safe from you dildos.”

Lahar could feel his temper rising. “We will find your pet. You must know this.”

Cobra narrowed his eyes. “She’s not a pet and you’ll never find her, douche-weasel.”

Lahar narrowed his eyes, a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. _Oh, so mentioning the snake gets a rise out of him? Interesting._ “Oh, we will find the damn snake, Prisoner 435261, and when we find her we’ll deal with her how we deal with all rogue animals.”

Cobra listened to the Rune Knight’s soul. Snarling, Cobra lunged towards the smug bastard, banging on the walls of his cell. “You fucking touch her and I’ll rip your spine out through your asshole! You hide, and I **_will_** find you! There will be no place safe from me!”

Lahar arched an eyebrow and left, the Poison Dragon Slayer’s growls following him.

_Please, Cubellios. Please have found Himerope._ Cobra pressed his forehead against the clear cell wall. _Please, Himerope, please take care of her._


	7. Chapter 7

Lucy eyed the pastry in her hand, then eyed the violet-haired barmaid in front of her. The way Kianna was eying the confectionary masterpiece the blonde held was borderline disturbing.

“Ki, you want this?” Lucy proffered the pastry, half-heartedly.

Kianna made a happy face before leaning across the bar and eating the pastry right out of Lucy’s hand. “Fanks, Lulu.” Her cheeks stuffed with the pastry, her arsenic green eyes shining in pleasure.

“You’re welcome.” Lucy laughed at her friend.

Mirajane shook her head at her two fellow guild members, it had stopped being weird that Kianna would eat things out of Lucy’s hands a while ago. It was just something the two friends did. Nobody knew why; and when asked about it, both the blonde and violette would give blank stares before shrugging.

#

There were times Cobra was sure that Cubellios had found Himerope and the two of them were living happily. Times where he could almost imagine Himerope hand feeding rats to Cu. Where he could have sworn that he heard both their souls’ laughter as they interacted.

But that was probably a figment of his imagination. The lacrima cell he lived in limited the range of his magic. He could only hear the souls in the room and nowhere else.

There were other times Cobra was convinced that the Rune Knights had found Cubellios and killed her but didn’t tell him so that Cobra could live in hope of his friend’s survival only for it to be crushed at the most opportune moment.

Then there were days where he was convinced that he had finally gone insane. That the worry, fear, hope, love he felt had finally, finally rotted his brain and he wasn’t actually as coherent as he thought, just a drooling, mumbling, crazed mess. But then he would hear Lahar’s soul, hear the other Oracion Seis members’ souls and Cobra would know his fear was unfounded.

But it was there. Like a cancer in the back on his mind. Slowly chiseling away his sanity.

_I just want to see her again. Hear her again._

#

Kianna watched as Bickslow flirted with Lucy and something about it rubbed the violette the wrong way. It wasn’t that Kianna didn’t like Bickslow, she thought the Seith Mage was hilarious and cute in his own way, it was that, Lucy shouldn’t be with Bickslow. Lucy should be with…..

Kianna blanked. _Who should Lucy be with?_

Kianna tried to capture the fleeting thought, an image. Maroon hair and black eyes. Who was that? Was that somebody important? _Should I know who that is?_

It wasn’t the first time the violette had that image flash in her mind. But it never stayed.


	8. Chapter 8

Lucy was gone.

So were a lot of other members but Kiana only truly cared about Lucy.

And Lucy was gone. Lost on Tenrou Island.

Her best friend.

Kiana was alone again.

She wasn’t about to cry.

Holding a fist over her stomach Kiana walked back behind the bar, she was now the head barmaid. Mirajane was gone too.

Everybody was gone.

#

Cobra wrenched awake, panicked.

She was gone. Himerope was gone. It wasn’t that she died, she just disappeared.

For some reason Himerope’s soulsong had been coming in clearer and clearer recently. It was almost as if her soul was crying out for him.

But now it was just gone.

“Hey!” Cobra screeched. “You fucks tell me what the fuck is happening right now!”

He glared at his jailers and demanded he be informed of what was happening outside the prison. All the jailers’ souls were screeching in disbelief.

#

Lahar and Cobra glared at each other.

“You gonna tell me or what, you limp-dicked ass face?” Cobra sneered.

Lahar felt his eye twitch. Out of everybody, Cobra was the only one that got under Lahar’s skin. “What can you tell us about Grimoire Heart?”

Cobra started laughing, great big, loud, barks of inhuman laughter.

Lahar sighed and walked away. Trying to talk to Cobra was useless.

“Hey, paper-cunt,” Cobra jeered., “looking for them is a waste. You should be more worried about what they signify.”

“Elaboration?” Lahar asked politely.

“Nah, man. You ain’t getting it outta me.” Cobra sneered again.

Lahar and Cobra stared at each other for an indiscernible amount of time before Lahar left.

Cobra snorted derisively before gaining deep introspection.

Grimoire Heart was gone, Himerope was gone. Cobra knew for a fact that Grimoire Heart, despite all its grandstanding, never stood a chance against Fairy Tail. If the Oracion Seis never stood a chance, then neither did Grimoire Heart, Cobra didn’t care what their freak of a guild master thought or what that time turner bitch did.

“You showed them, didn’t ya Himerope.” Cobra chuckled. He knew that whatever happened to Himerope, she and those freaks she called guild mates took out Grimoire Heart first.

**Author's Note:**

> Modus operandi - M.O.; Latin; method of procedure, a distinct pattern or method of operation that indicates or suggest the work of a single criminal in more than one crime
> 
> Raison d'etre - French; reason or justification for existence, the most important reason or purpose for someone or something's existence.


End file.
